The media knows him as an enigmatic but fair distributor of information, a paranoid but consistent football coach.

From that standpoint, Willingham seems to be the anti-Pete Carroll, a stark contrast to the charismatic USC coach who keeps practices open, plays pranks with his players and wins championships like they're going out of style.

But according to Huskies coaches and players, there are two things that tie Carroll and Willingham together: When it comes to loving the triumphs and feeling passionate about the game, they couldn't be more alike.

Those similarities -- and contrasts -- will be on full display Saturday when the Huskies play host to the top-ranked Trojans at Husky Stadium.

The differences between them apparently cost the UW a key recruit -- sophomore Taylor Mays, a super safety from O'Dea High School who narrowed the field to Washington and USC before choosing the Trojans in 2006.

"I think the difference was Coach Carroll," Mays said this week, "just his enthusiasm and how loud he is and wild he is all the time. I just felt I could relate to that a little better."

Mays is now a key cog in the Trojans defense, a unit that ranks second in the Pac-10 in scoring defense (18.3 point per game) and has yielded only seven touchdowns.

Carroll's ability to pluck a gem from Willingham's backyard didn't sit well with some Huskies fans. But in that same 2006 recruiting class, Willingham landed the state's top recruit, Ferndale quarterback Jake Locker.

Locker is coy in talking about how others recruited him; he says he didn't pay much attention to USC's pitches. Ultimately, he chose to stay close to home and said Willingham and his staff made that decision easy.

Locker, a redshirt freshman, faces the biggest challenge of his young career Saturday in leading a Huskies offense that ranks last in the conference (368.0 yards per game) and has lost its past two games.

Carroll and Willingham have vastly different sideline demeanors, though Willingham was spotted smiling and laughing during last week's 44-31 loss to UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

Carroll is the pat-a-player's-butt kind of guy, cracking smiles and even going so far as to take part in players' pranks.

A reporter asked Willingham this week if there was a reason he has been so animated on the sideline this season -- more specifically, why he has been smiling so much.

"I guess I'll have to stop that," he replied. "The interpretations of that have been lethal lately."

"What I see is that if you are about your business, he lets you do what you want to do, because he sees you can handle it," Butler said. "At certain times -- and it depends on the situation -- but at dinner and stuff like that, he's loose and relaxed. Come game time, though, he's serious. He's all business, but if you're making plays and doing what you're supposed to be, he's going to have fun with you."

If a player isn't, though, Willingham casts that stare.

"He just gives you that look ... you better start picking it up," Butler said. "He doesn't even need to say anything. The guys know."

Offensive line coach Mike Denbrock has worked under Willingham since 2001.

"I love being around him. I really enjoy being on his staff and working with him on a daily basis," Denbrock said.

"It can't always be fun. But I'm sure if you spent as much time at USC and, as loosey-goosey as Pete Carroll is, I'm sure there's a time for serious business for them as well."

Without a doubt, Willingham and Carroll's differences will be noted on ABC's national telecast at 5 p.m.

Carroll will no doubt smile and laugh with reporters. Willingham will get stiff-backed and repeat well-meaning old bromides.

"It seems like they are different characters," Huskies defensive coordinator Kent Baer said. "Ty is very quiet. Pete's just not. He is a very quiet guy and (reporters) know that better than anybody. His press conferences take two minutes. That's just Coach."

Neither Baer nor Denbrock could recall a particularly damaging incident between Willingham and the media.

"This has been Coach since I've been with him," Denbrock said. "Coach Willingham is, I think, just trying to do the things necessary in any way shape or form to make sure our football team gets better.

"Pete has his way. Tyrone has his way. Some prefer one way, some the other, some neither.

"I think it's an apples-and-oranges type of thing."

Carroll is 5-1 against Willingham since taking over at USC in 2001. Willingham took the first meeting in 2001, his final season at Stanford.

To be fair, not many coaches have fared better than Carroll, a former safety at Pacific who has a 68-12 record in six-plus seasons at USC.

That probably drives Willingham mad because, for all their differences, there is a resounding similarity -- both love football and want, more than anything, to win.

"As much as people would like to believe it's a militaristic scenario and very regimented in Coach Willingham's program, or that you're not allowed to smile, laugh, enjoy playing football, nothing could be further from the truth," Denbrock said.

Butler recalled a meeting with his coach in which Willingham talked about time management and, then, girls.

"I was like, 'Coach!' " Butler laughed.

Willingham has a set jaw, a steely stare and an intense demeanor. But, it's true, he admitted -- he is smiling more on the sideline these days.

"I just think it's me," Willingham said. "There's a lot of humor in football, a lot in life. I think I enjoy football. "Am I serious about it? I'm very serious about it, but I enjoy it."